Hider
by Wanessa4eva98613
Summary: 100 years after Extras takes place, Special Circumstances has risen again. Pretties have lesions again and everything is exactly like it was when Tally was ugly. Most people have forgotten the past. And then, Reeta, a bubblehead, becomes special.
1. Bash

"Frey-la! Over here!" called Reeta. Frey made his way over to Reeta and the rest of the Champaigners.

"Hey guys, pretty bubbly party, huh?" said Frey, who was one of the newest Champaigner.

"Utterly," said Zia.

Except the shortage of vodka," said Greyson. All the Champaigners groaned mournfully in agreement.

"Well, that doesn't mean we can't have fun," said Wei, the founder of the Champaigners.

"Care to dance, Zia-la?" said Hull, pulling Zia into his arms.

"Totally," Zia answered, and the two waltzed off into the crowd of dancers.

"Wei-la, Yawy-la isn't here yet," said Jay.

"Yeah," said Reeta. "That's totally _bogus_ of him! This is an important bash! What's more important than Hull-wa's birthday?"

"Wei-la's birthday!" cried Frey, taking a sip of his champaign.

Wei chuckled, his almond pretty eyes already clouding from alcohol. "Kiss-ups are totally bogus, Frey-la."

"So are Champaigners who aren't drunk," said Greyson. "Come on Reeta, let's go find some champaign." Reeta allowed Greyson to lead her to the drink table. She picked up a glass of champaign and moved started dancing with Greyson.

"You're still wearing the necklace I gave you," he commented.

"Well duh, it's the bubbliest thing I own, silly," said Reeta. "Totally pretty-making."

"I feel honored," Greyson joked. Reeta giggled as he kissed her. His breath smelled like champaign.

The bash lasted to the morning. All twenty-one Champaigners said their drunken goodbyes at dawn and headed off to their mansions. Reeta fell onto her bed in Nomad Mansion and closed her eyes, smiling. She pinged Greyson.

"Wahn't dat a grape bahsh?" she giggled.

"Urterly," Greyson said.

"We shoulda goed toa bahsh towight," said Reeta. She hiccupped.

"I'w pingy Wei-la 'n ask 'm" said Greyson. A minute later, Greyson said, "Toon ites bahsh weel be aaaaaat… Kellum Manshawn. Cotume bahsh."

"I'w pinggg the west of da Shamwaynahs," said Reeta. "Buh bye Greyson-la."

"Bye Reeta-la. Waaait! Reeeeetaaa-laaa?"

"What?"

"I'ma go'n now. I'ma go'n toooo…" Greyson was silent for a minute. "I'w gottah gooo now. Byeee Reeta-la! I love ya!"

"Bye Greyson-la. Love ya toowee!"

Reeta pinged the rest of the Champaigners about the bash, each one completely drunk. After she had finished, she fell asleep.

Reeta woke up an hour 'till the bash was starting. Her hangover, which she always tended to call Hangover-la, was especially bad today. Luckily, Reeta had a costume she had been planning for months, and wouldn't have to think too hard. She would be going as a mermaid. Slipping into a shell-bra top the hole-in-the-wall spat out, she noticed she had a ping from Apollo. Curious, she opened it.

"Hey Reeta-la, don't tell Wei-la this, but next week _we're_ throwing him a surprise birthday bash at Haylor Mansion. It'll be so cool; no one will be _leaving_ early. It's completely black tie formal, but us Champaigners rented the top floor for a colorful explosion formal party, so bring a change of clothes. It will be next Sunday, not _tonight_. Remember, don' tell Wei-la! _Bye_!" Reeta chose not to respond.

Reeta put on the fake mermaid tail skirt she had requisitioned months ago. She asked the hole-in-the-wall for safety dye, preferably sea green, which was totally pretty-making. When the hole-in-the-wall would only spit out purple-brown, Reeta pinged Del, who knew how to get every color of safety dye imaginable.

"Del-wa, how do I get sea green safety dye out of the hole-in-the-wall?" asked Reeta.

"I have some, I'll bring it over," said Del.

"Bubbly, you're a life saver! See you in a bit," said Reeta.

Del lived in Nomad Mansion with Reeta, a few floors down. She would be up in a minute or two.

When Del got there, she was holding a can of sea green safety dye, along with pearl and sea foam. Del's blonde hair was dyed brown, and two fake mouse ears sat on top.

"Hold still and keep your eyes closed," instructed Del. "It may be safety dye, but it still dyes your eyes, and that's bogus."

Reeta clenched her eyes shut as Del sprayed the dye on. Then, she added pearl and sea foam highlights, finishing it off with gold sparkles. Reeta opened her eyes and stared at her reflection in the mirror across from her.

"Del-wa, I look so bubbly! Thanks," said Reeta, hugging her friend.

"Yeah, your costume is so much bubblier than mine," said Del wistfully.

"I can help! What are you doing for the body?" asked Reeta.

"Brown body suit," Del instructed the room. The hole-in-the-wall spat out a brown body suit. Del picked it up and put it on. "What should I do for the tail?"

"Maybe a brown belt?" suggested Reeta.

Del finished her costume with brown boots and gloves. The belt hung loosely from the suit where it had been nano-glued on.

"Come on, let's get to Kellum Mansion!" said Reeta. The two pretties called a hovercab to take them to the bash. Kellum Mansion was on the other side of New Pretty Town. When they arrived at the bash, it was clear the Champaigners weren't there.

Tons of pretties dressed up like scary wolf-pretties were hanging around outside the mansion. Some pretties in regular costumes were cowering in a crowd by a tree. One of the bashers dressed as a wolf-pretty was going around to each pretty, asking them questions with their razor-sharp voices. None of the Champaigners were there, except Frey, who was standing at the back of the crowd.

Reeta shivered, but not from the cold. "What's with those pretties' costumes? They're so bubbly they're… bogus."

"I don't think those are costumes," said Del.

Reeta's eyes went wide. "Are they the people who the operation doesn't work on?"

Del tilted her head to the side. "Maybe. But I think they're Special Circumstances." The word swept through the bashers like a wind, each one whispering the word in turn to their neighbor. This seemed more likely than any other guess.

Reeta pinged Frey. "Frey-la! What are they saying?"

"They're asking about Greyson-la and Wei-la," came Frey's response.

Reeta's heart skipped a beet. What was wrong with Greyson? He had just talked to Reeta earlier. He was just fine…

"You two bubbleheads," said a harsh voice. "Get over with the crowd." It was one of the Special Circumstances. Reeta and Del shuffled over to the group of bashers. They stood next to Frey.

The Specials Circumstances continued to interrogate pretties. Reeta could hear every word they said.

"Do you know a Greyson Wildson or Wei Tiller?" they asked. All pretties answered no. They asked this same question over again, moving with a scary grace that told Reeta they could kill her with one hand. The world was icy sharp, besides her killer hangover, and she could see every inch of the Special Circumstances' faces so clearly it hurt. The sun was just lowering itself behind the horizon, the sky a golden lake. Reeta's thoughts swirled. This is so weird. Where are Greyson and Wei? What will happen to us?

"Do you know Greyson Wildson or Wei Tiller?" At first Reeta didn't realize it, but the Special Circumstance was talking to her.

"Uh, y-yeah," said Reeta, the clarity dulling to normal sight and senses. "Greyson-la's my boyfriend. And Wei-la founded our clique, the Champaigners. What's going on? What about the bash?"

"Come with me," said the Special Circumstance." He went over to stand by another one, who was holding Frey by the wrist tightly. In a few seconds, Del was over with them too. After the rest of the pretties were interrogated, Reeta felt a prick in her neck, and then everything went black.


	2. Walma Freemont

Reeta awoke when she realized she had a ping waiting. She opened it. Reeta gasped when she realized it was from Apollo.

"Reeta, we don't have much time," gasped Apollo. There was a lot of background noise and screaming from around Apollo. "Special Circumstances is real. They're after us. Wei and Greyson made a plan to run away from the city. They dragged some other Champaigners along with the promise of a killer bash. They gave us these pills and everything's so _different_. We were going to go to this place called Smoke City. Listen, when you get the pretty operation, they plant some stuff in your brain. They change how you think and act. They used to do that about one hundred years ago, but this chick named Tally Youngblood revealed it to the world and started this renaissance called the mind-rain. Listen, stay away from the bash at Kellum. It's a set-up to get information about Smoke City. I've gotta go, before it's too late. Get out of the city. I sent you instructions to get to a safe place via another ping. Check your eyescreen for a new software that's called Red Lake Springs. It's a map. Follow it, and bring as many Champaigners as you want. There should be only fourteen left. Greyson and Wei took me, Sian, Lohve, Katty, and Ceci. Get out. I repeat, get ou-"

Another voice cut into the ping, a harsh, razor-sharp Special Circumstance voice. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to." Apollo screamed. The ping cut off.

Reeta opened her eyes, turning on her eyescreen. Sure enough, new data called Red Lake Springs was waiting. Reeta turned off her eyescreen to look around her room.

It was a plain room. A metal door sat in the center of the light gray wall. The floor was white tiles. There was a table of smart matter in front of the couch Reeta was laying on. Her hangover was even worse now, cutting into her vision. The door opened and a special walked in. She stood on the other side of the smart matter table.

"My name is Walma," she said. "I am the leader of Special Circumstances."

"I guessed," said Reeta, cringing at Walma's wolf eyes.

"Don't be smart, bubblehead," Walma snapped.

"Sorry, ma'am," said Reeta.

"No, I'm sorry, Reeta. I've always had a short temper, even for a special. Your friends Greyson and Wei ran away earlier today." Walma smirked. "They didn't get far. They're under the knife as we speak, getting any injuries fixed. The wild is a cruel place."

Reeta's eyes widened. "The wild? Really? That's bogus! Why didn't they include the rest of us? They only brought five people! I mean, I wouldn't want to go to the wild, but we're a clique!"

"You knew about this?" asked Walma.

"Well… no, not really. I got two pings from this guy named Apollo, also in our clique. The first one wasn't really about going to the wild, it was about Wei-la's surprise birthday party next week…"

"Forward that ping to the eyescreen of Special Circumstances," instructed Walma. "And the other?"

"Well, Apollo-wa was saying all this crazy stuff about putting stuff in our brains and something about some girl who started something called the mind-rain, and someplace called Smoke City, and he told me to run away. From the city. He told me to take the rest of the Champaigners with me. He gave me a map and everything!"

Walma smiled sympathetically. "Did Apollo say anything about pills of some sort?"

"Yeah, he did," said Reeta.

"Your boyfriend has been a bad boy," said Walma. "He worked with Wei to get pills that confuse your mind and make you delusional. They gave them to five Champaigners as an experiment."

"What! That's _bogus_! Greyson would never do that! Not the Greyson I know! He gave me this necklace!" Reeta pointed to her silver necklace.

"Did he? May I see it? It's very nice," said Walma. Reeta handed Walma her necklace. Walma snapped it into two chains like a twig. Reeta gasped.

"Hey!" Reeta stood up and reached for the two chains.

"Reeta, Greyson bugged that necklace. He was going to try to give you the pills through it."

"But he gave it to me last month!"

"He's been planning this ever since he became pretty."

Reeta's head started spinning. She sat down on the couch again. Red dots swirled at the edges of her vision. Greyson had been planning to betray her for a whole year? But why?

"Why?" asked Reeta quietly.

"The pills make you do that. They make you want to give them to others. Eventually they destroy your brain. Greyson and the others would have died slowly in the wild if we hadn't saved them."

"They were screaming in the ping Apollo-wa sent me," said Reeta. "A special said 'I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.' That's not rescuing."

"But it is. The pills make you defiant to help. Sometimes threatening can be helpful," said Walma. "Reeta, you're probably tired. Plus, you've got a bad hangover. I'll tell you what; since you were so helpful to us so we could find out what was wrong with Greyson, I'll give you a nice surge. How about a flash tattoo? I could make your fingernails change color with your mood? As a special, I can pull some strings in the surge room. You could start a new fashion. What about a nice eye surge? Plus, when you wake up your hangover will be gone. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Reeta smiled. "Yeah, thanks Walma. I can't believe Greyson-la would do this. Thanks for saving me from taking those pills. How are Del-wa and Frey-la?"

Walma sighed. "You bubbledheads and your stupid nicknames," she muttered, barely loud enough for Reeta to hear. Her tone brightened. "Both are fine. I'm giving them both a new surge for their help too. They wanted flash tattoos of balloons, so I thought you might like one. Here, let's go to the operating room."

Reeta followed Walma out of the room and down a long hall. A few other specials were waiting along the hall. They smiled as Reeta passed. Reeta noticed some had sharp teeth. She asked Walma about it.

"Those belong to a special branch of Special Circumstances. They're experimental. We call them Wildchilds. They were pretties who liked to be outdoors more, the kind you see camping in the pleasure gardens. They're designed for surviving outdoors for longer. They have sharp teeth so they can eat virtually anything. They spend a week inside HQ, and then go back into the wild for a month. The cycle continues year-round," explained Walma.

"How's the experiment going?" asked Reeta.

"Perfectly," said Walma, grinning. They entered an elevator. Walma pushed the button that said O Room.

"O for operating," she explained. The elevator went into motion. After a moment of waiting, the doors opened and the two stepped out.

As they started walking down another hallway, Reeta looked at Walma. "Why do you specials look the way you do?"

"So bubbleheads can distinguish us from them," said Walma, who stopped at a door and started punching in a code.

"Yeah, but if you wanted to like, spy on us, couldn't you make specials look pretty? Like, normal pretty?" asked Reeta.

Walma slowed her long fingers for a moment, but it was slight, and she sped up again. "There's a thought. Say, Reeta, how good are you at keeping secrets?"


	3. 0004 UNIDENTIFIABLE CHEMICALS

"Isn't this great?" grinned Reeta. "We totally look like pretties!"

"This is shady! I never thought I'd be a Special Circumstance," said Apollo, speeding his hoverboard up.

"And it's all thanks to Wei and Greyson," cheered Del. "Three cheers for the first Hiders!"

All ten of the speeding specials raised their right fists. They all looked the same as they had a few weeks ago; big pretty eyes, full lips, small noses, _pretty_. However, these were no longer bubbleheads flying on hoverboards towards Pretty City. These were no longer Champaigners, extremely bubbleheaded bashers who survived from one hangover to the next. These were a new branch of Special Circumstances. Hiders. They were special spies, looking for bubbleheads who were a bit too bubbly to have active lesions. They were beautiful specials.

If you looked hard, you could see the differences from before their operation and now. Their eyes were no longer watery, but a bit darker and harsher, no emotions playing across them. Their muscles were a bit more noticeable. Their ears a tiny bit sharper, able to catch the slightest sound. Of course, these were just the visible details. In truth, they were walking spy machines. They could record anything with the flick of a finger. They were the ultimate spies.

Wei dipped his head; his foreign beauty displaying slanted black eyes and tanner skin. Wei was from somewhere in Asia, as Reeta recalled. He moved to Harris a few months ago. He looked for special than the rest of them. His eyes were visibly colder; he was the leader of the Hiders, the most merciless.

Greyson was more up-front about their success. "We were smart little pretties, weren't we?" he grinned. "We figured out how to escape before anyone else. No wonder we're specials now."

Reeta swerved closer to him. "Specials," she whispered to him, as if it were a promise they would be together forever as specials. Nothing would come between them. Not secrets, not anything.

"Next stop, Pretty City," said Frey.

When Reeta said her goodbyes to the other Hiders, she and Del walked into the lobby of Nomad Mansion, where they were greeted by a hug from Patti, a Champaigner.

"Reeta! Del! Where have you been? We've been so worried!"

"We've been… busy. Finding out about a new place to throw a bash," said Reeta.

"Yeah, in a new city," added Del. "In a place called Richmond."

"Wow…! A new city to bash! But it took ten of you? That's bogus," said Patti.

"Well, we wanted a majority opinion," said Del. "You know, to see how many liked it. Then we were gonna surprise the rest of the Champaigners. It was gonna be bubbly, really."

"So, is it a yes?" asked Patti, her eyes hopeful. Reeta was surprised how easy it was to read her emotions.

"No. Richmond didn't have good mansions," said Reeta. "And the pretties there were bogus. Not even the alcohol was shady."

"Shady?" asked Patti.

"What?" said Reeta.

"You just said the alcohol wasn't shady," said Patti.

"No I didn't. I said bubbly," said Reeta, glancing at Del.

"Yeah, she did," said Del. "Hey, can we go to our rooms now? We're kinda tired from the bogus trip."

"Alright. See you guys later," said Patti.

Reeta and Del walked up the back stairs to their rooms. They needed time to discuss the plan, and there would be bubbleheads on the elevator.

"I sent a video to the other Hiders of what just happened," said Del. "That should explain the situation."

"Why didn't I think to record that!" said Reeta, smacking her forehead with her hand.

"Just record all the time," said Del. "Alright, this is my floor. Bye, Reeta."

"See you." Reeta flicked her finger and started recording. She walked up to her room and pinged Greyson.

"Hey Greyson, can you come over?"

"Yeah sure, why?" asked Greyson.

"I want to send a message to Special Circumstances. I need your help, I don't really get how this 'whole body a machine' thing works."

"I'll be right there."

When Reeta woke up the next day, she was sore. She attributed it to her first time on a hoverboard since she was an ugly. Reeta pulled herself out of bed and pulled on some fresh clothes. Reeta pinged Apollo.

"Hey Apollo, what happens when we record 24/7?" she asked.

"Nothing. Everything we record goes straight to HQ," answered Apollo.

"You sure?"

"Positive. We can't run out of batteries."

"Alright, that's kinda shady. See you later. We're meeting at Jonas Mansion, at the café," said Reeta.

"Alright. Bye." Apollo hung up.

Reeta looked out the window. She got out her nanohacker from her special bag and pointed it at the hole-in-the-wall. If she was going out today for a "pretties' day out", she was going to look special doing it.

Reeta made the hole-in-the-wall spit out a stainless steal thread shirt. It looked like construction clothes. Then, she put a bungee jacket on underneath it. Her pants were the same material a sneak suit uses in armor mode, and her boots were heavy iron. Lastly, she hid a small nano-gun in her right boot. And just for the sake of looking pretty, the hole-in-the-wall spit out some cool shades. Reeta put them on. She was ready.

She strutted out of Nomad Mansion like she owned the place. She technically did, though, as Special Circumstances had given the Hiders complete authority over wardens and arrests, minders and pings, even doctors and trends. Reeta could program any pretty's lesions to act differently with the lesion-hacker, an invention of Apollo's.

Reeta turned down Race Avenue, and a ping went off in her head that told her she shouldn't be there. Technically, she was running on the city interface still. Her eyescreen wasn't set to the Special Circumstance feed, so that she could ping the Champaigners.

Walking down Race Avenue was the most daring thing Reeta had done as a special yet. Race was currently completely under construction because of a deadly fire that had started a few days after Reeta became special. Now, the street was closed off because of the hazardous chemicals and danger of falling pieces. Reeta could feel the toxins of a molten building burning the inside of her throat, slowly ripping away the flesh.

Her special nanos starting working their magic by fixing her throat, purifying the poison that entered her system. How odd, thought Reeta as a green 100% CLEAR came up on her eyescreen. She checked the breakdown report.

65% MERCURY

34% OXYGEN

1% OTHER

Reeta shivered at the numbers. Only a special, with boosted immune systems and lungs could survive this area. Reeta clicked on the 1% OTHER tab. It dropped down into dozens of harmless chemicals, except for one that Reeta found very suspicious. All the way at the bottom in tiny red print her eyescreen said:

.0004 % UNIDENTIFIABLE CHEMICALS

Unidentifiable? Why couldn't her system identify them? It knew every official chemical known to man, including some unofficial ones. Why was that in the air? Besides the high mercury levels and low oxygen, everything was fine. But what had happened? They said a fire started here. Reeta pinged Walma.

_Hey Walma,_

_What _exactly_ happened on Race Avenue? There are too many chemicals here to be a _regular_ fire. Answer me _immediately. Do you understand_? This is _vital_, and I need answers._

_-Reeta Request_

Reeta waited silently for a minute. A single ping appeared in her message box. It was from Walma.

_Come._

Reeta blinked. Come. That was all it said. Reeta pinged all of the Hiders, forwarding them the system cleansing report with a note to read everything, her ping to Walma, and Walma's response. She finished by saying she was going alone, and to send her the video of the meeting later. She set off the Special Circumstances HQ.

Reeta called her hoverboard on Jumping Street. Bubbleheads stared as the special took off, leaving their stupid beauty behind as she raced for HQ.

How had the bubbleheads not died from the chems? They would have spread to all over Pretty City, probably multiplying like that white weed the Hiders learned about in special training. Something was not right, and Reeta knew SC was behind it.


	4. Youngblood Plague

"The unidentifiable chemical is an experiment," said Walma. Reeta sat in a chair in front of Walma's desk. Walma was pacing back and forth behind it.

"You specials seem to experiment a lot," grumbled Reeta.

"You know, I like you Reeta. You're a particularly _special_ special special. You do know that you Hiders are special specials, don't you? Experiments like you children are what will keep Special Circumstances around for a long time."

"So what's with the unidentifiable chems?" asked Reeta impatiently.

"It's one chemical. We call it the Youngblood Plague. It is, by far, our most deadly creation yet," said Walma proudly.

"Youngblood?" Reeta cocked one eyebrow. "That name sounds familiar. Why?"

Walma sighed. "I guess I would have to tell you eventually. About one hundred and twenty years ago, an ugly named Tally Youngblood was born."

"So your first special chem you named after the first real special?" said Reeta.

"It's deadly and unstable, like old specials," said Walma. "It took out a whole street. Rave Avenue will be up and running by the end of the month. It poisons our whole body. It can kill someone in seconds. With high levels of mercury, it's explosive."

"Why? Why make such a toxic chem?"

"Why not? If cities fought one hundred years ago, who's to say they won't fight again. You know, back in the Rusty time there was some big event called the Holocaust. Thousands of people of one religion were killed because they belonged to that religion. I personally think that was a good idea. If we could kill everyone who's lesions didn't work, there would be no runaways to Smoke City like your friends." Walma was pacing faster now, her mouth twisted up into an evil smile.

"Mass-murder?" asked Reeta in a small voice.

"Not really mass-murder. More like, anyone who gets in the way of peace murder. It would really be helpful. Think about it Reeta! You're more special than the other Hiders! You had the genius idea for spies when you were a _bubblehead_!"

Reeta thought for a moment. "What would you have done to us if I hadn't suggested pretty-looking specials?"

"A new type of operation. You feel terrible after it. You feel horrible and weak for weeks. It makes you loose your sight slowly. It all has to do with the operation chemicals we use."

"Walma… you're obsessed with murder and weapons. You love hurting people for no reason, especially if they're innocent." Reeta stood up. "And I'll make sure everyone knows."

"What are you saying, bubblehead?" hissed Walma.

"Technically, I'm not a bubblehead. I may have lesions, but they're different than a bubblehead's. They make us sharp thinkers who see things black and white. You've fallen in the black, boss. I'm about to let everyone know."

"Really. I doubt anyone would believe you," said Walma. "Go off and tell the wardens that Walma Freemont, head of Special Circumstances, is out to kill anyone who gets in her way. See if anyone believes you. In fact, I think you deserve that operation."

Walma lunged at Reeta. Reeta ducked out of the way. She pinged Greyson.

"Hello?" said Greyson. "Reeta?"

Walma thrust her hand out to Reeta. She felt the prick of Walma's knockout ring. Her vision started blurring. Dark spots dotted over her eyes.

"Walma… evil… want to… kill… bubbleheads… stop her… Youngblood… Plague… mercury… Race Avenue… death… save me… HQ…" Reeta passed out.


	5. Surge Goo

When Reeta woke up, the first thing she thought about was Race Avenue before the Youngblood Plague was released on it. Of course, Reeta didn't remember the Youngblood Plague. She only remembered parties and champaign, and getting drunk. She remembered all the stupid things she did as a bubblehead. But man, were those days fun. Her eyes half closed, she looked around her room. She wasn't in Nomad Mansion. She was… where was she? She was suspended in goo, and a mask was placed over her mouth. She couldn't see anything through the goo. She felt it seeping into her body. She started purifying her body, but was too tired, and it was too much of an effort, and why should she? She was safe. She was breathing. She was in warm liquid, happily doing nothing.

"Reeta! Thank goodness! You're awake!" The familiar voice came from her head.

"Hello voice-in-my-head-la," she murmured dreamily.

"Voice-in-my…? Reeta, it's me! Apollo!" The voice sounded stressed out.

"You should relax more, Apollo. I'm relaxed and I'm happy," said Reeta.

"Reeta! Listen to me! Fight your way out of the tank! Break it open or something! Purify your body, at least! You're being tortured! You're about to be operated on!"

"But that's so much work. I think I'll go to sleep now, Apollo-wa," said Reeta. She closed her eyes again, but something was nagging her. She slowly turned on her eyescreen and opened up the Purification tab. In a minute, a 100% CLEAR shone across her closed eyes. Reeta yawned. Maybe she would doze off for a minute or two…

"REETA! WAKE UP!"

Reeta started. It was that voice, Apollo, again. "Go away," she muttered.

"Reeta, we'll be there in two minutes. Hang on until then. _Do not_ let them operate on you. Understand?"

Reeta murmured something about kittens.

"Reeta! Do you understand?" Reeta didn't respond.

"Reeta, please stay awake." The voice was different this time. It was so familiar… Who was it? A memory trickled across Reeta's brain, two ugly kids sitting in a dorm laughing.

"Greyson?" The name felt strange on Reeta's tongue.

"Reeta, stay awake. Please," begged Greyson. "I love you."

Reeta forced her eyes wide open. The surge goo burned her eyes, but the nanos quickly cured them. She saw a few moving gray blobs outside the liquid. In fact, everything was gray and white and black outside of the surge tank. Reeta felt something cut her arm. Pain burned through her. A scalpel was already starting to cut her skin. Reeta pulled back. She saw the blobs outside scramble around. The scalpel stopped. Reeta's eyes felt heavy. Maybe, if she closed her eyes for one minute, everything would be o…

K.


	6. Loopy

"Reeta, damnit, wake up!" Reeta opened her eyes. She felt a burning pain on her arm. Everything in sight was a blurry gray blob. As her eyes focused, the colors stayed the same.

"Hey Wei," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "Why you all gray?" She giggled at her rhyme.

"What?" asked Wei.

"You're gray. All of you are. You Hiders are hiding your colors." She giggled again.

"Listen to her! They ruined her brain! I'm gonna kill them!" Greyson stood up. Apollo and Ceci pushed him back down.

"Calm down, Greyson. She's just affected by the pain drugs they gave her. She'll be back to normal soon," said Apollo.

"Apollo's smart. He's knows a lot. About starrrrrs!" Reeta giggled again.

"Damnit Reeta! Shut up!" yelled Wei.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Reeta.

"How could you get yourself caught? They almost killed you! Pain meds don't work on Hiders! Walma was willing to let them cut you up without them knowing! You are so _stupid_!" screamed Wei.

"Shut up, Wei," Greyson said coolly.

"No. Your girlfriend has to learn to think! We're probably going to be locked up or killed now that Reeta threatened to tell everyone. Reeta will get us all killed."

"I wasn't threatening," said Reeta. "I'm gonna do it. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight… now." Reeta forwarded every video she ever recorded to the city interface. She sent it to every bubblehead, every warden, every known wallscreen or eyescreen, and, tapping into the Special Circumstance interface, every special.

In a few seconds, slow smiles started creeping across the faces of the Hiders. A few of them chuckled darkly. After a few minutes, -the Hiders skipped Reeta sleeping and everything they were there for- Greyson swept Reeta up into a hug.

"Reeta, you are a genius!"

Reeta started giggling. She still felt a bit loopy, but was slowly coming out of her drugged haze.

"Yes, Reeta, you are a genius," came the cool voice of Walma. Reeta sat up. She was sitting on the floor with the Hiders crouched around her. Unconscious bodies lay in front of the surge tank. Walma was standing in the doorway.

"You bubbleheads deserve some credit. I never thought my creations would turn against me. I guess it's back to the drawing board for me," said Walma. The Hiders stood up.

"No. Walma, this is the end of the line," said Greyson. "Someone as evil as you can't be in charge of Special Circumstances."

Reeta shook her head, clearing away all drug haze.

"In fact, we're taking you in for questioning. And you have to tell the truth, or else we'll release the Youngblood Plague on you. And then there will be a new leader of Special Circumstances," said Wei.

"And who will that be?" asked Walma.

"Reeta Request," said Frey.

Walma laughed. "She's still crazy from the painkiller we gave her."

"Oh am I?" said Reeta, standing up with the rest of the Hiders.

"Reeta, you're not going to lead Special Circumstances. You're only seventeen. I was much older than you when I became the head," said Walma.

"Take her to a quarantined chamber," said Wei. Apollo and Greyson moved forward. Walma moved back.

"I'm not going," she said.

Reeta stepped forward to help them. "Relax, Walma. We don't want to hurt you, but we will if we have to."


	7. Special Circumstances

Walma died a few hours after she was captured. The Youngblood Plague worked great on her, killing her quickly in seconds. Reeta had begun to get votes for who was to lead Special Circumstances now that Walma was gone. Reeta was in first, with Grettle Hansin, a Wildchild, in second, and Walma's second-in-command Lu in third. By the end of the day, Reeta was in charge.

Reeta's first order of business was to take away all traces of the Youngblood Plague. She learned there was an invisible and nearly intangible barrier at the edges of Race Avenue, keeping the plague in. Race Avenue was safe and open for business by the end of the year. The Youngblood Plague was kept in a freezer at the heart of Special Circumstances HQ.

Her second was to abolish the torture operation. Everyone trained to do it had their lesions hacked to make them forget everything from how to do it to what painkillers to use. Although Reeta was only in the tank for a half an hour, she had become completely color-blind and could only see dark grays and white and blacks. She refused to get a surge to fix it, though. She used it as a reminder that things could go bad if she became as sadistic as Walma had.

And for once, Special Circumstances was serving the bubbleheads. Every person knew about them. Recruiting started within the first year. Specials ranged from wardens to Wildchilds. Many littlies' school papers of What I Want to Be Someday were about being agents of Special Circumstances. Everyone wanted to be a Hider. Cliques had developed in Special Circumstances, and a new part of Harris was made for the specials.

Hiders, Wildchilds, Regulars, Surgers, Cutters, and Helpers lived in Special Town. After a few years, Reeta started noticing a new clique of pretties called Crims. They were the tricky uglies, the ones who ran away to the Smoke City. Reeta made them special after some time. She never took away the lesions, though. She agreed that pretties had to be controlled. And what better way to keep them controlled than lesions?

But one day, as Reeta reached her thirtieth birthday, a child of two Crims was born.

And her name was Tally. And she was special.


End file.
